Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Religion And Culture

Tabitha Falkayn says that, in High Sky Choth, they keep mostly to the Old Faith. If I lived on Avalon, would I join a choth? Probably not - although Tabitha did not "join" since she was the third generation of her family in High Sky and was brought up by Ythrians. Choth membership would not automatically mean acceptance of either the Old or the New Faith.

In the Emberverse, Sam Aylward:

"...gave the predominant religion the same grave formal courtesy he'd always extended to the Church of England, but neither moved him much."
-SM Stirling, The Protector's War (New York, 2006), Chapter Seven, p. 183.

- although he concedes that:

"...it's a good religion for farmers. The festivals all make sense that way." (ibid.)

We can appreciate each other's festivals. My neighbors say, "Happy Christmas," and I say, "Happy Eid." I heard of a Christian missionary who was concerned because his parishioners shared festivals with their neighbors of other faiths. On Avalon or in the Emberverse, I would continue to meditate while participating in local festivals although not in the animal sacrifices of the Old Faith. The Buddha taught that the best sacrifice is an offering not of flesh to the gods but of fruit to the poor.

1 comment:

Of course it was right of Sam Aylward to show courtesy to the neo-pagans he found himself living with. As I hope I would do. But that does not mean I would BELIEVE in what the neo-pagans thought was true.

I fear I could not be so accommodating about "festivals," not if participating in them implied in any way believing in ideas or "gods" I believe to be erroneous. But I have read of how the Catholic Church adjusted certain feast days of the saints to fit into the lives of farmers.

And of course you know of how both the NT and OT stresses how charity to the poor pleases God.